BASEMENT WATERPROOFING IN Sea Bright

SEA BRIGHT - A $130 million project to replace the Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge moved into reality Friday morning as state, county and local leaders gathered to kick off construction on the structure.

The project, which has been in the works for more than a decade, is almost entirely paid for using federal transportation dollars and represents the largest single federal grant Monmouth County has ever received, officials said.

"Monmouth County is a good example of how this can and should be done," said David Behrend, deputy executive director of the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, which worked with the county, Sea Bright, Rumson, the New Jersey Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration to shepherd the project through a lengthy federal planning process.

Monmouth County Commissioner Director Tom Arnone expressed pride in the yearslong efforts all agencies put into helping the bridge come to fruition.

"One thing about being an elected official is you can kick the can down the road," he said. "But that's not the approach we take. We hit this head on."

The new Rumson-Sea Bright bridge also will be a drawbridge, but will be wider than the existing structure, which was built in 1950. It will have two eastbound lanes, one westbound lane with shoulders and sidewalks on both sides for pedestrians and bicyclists, according to a presentation Monmouth County provided residents ahead of the groundbreaking.

A video of the presentation is available on the project website, www.rumsonseabrightbridge.com, which is where project managers will keep residents informed of the progress and any potential impacts it could have on the community. Work is expected to be completed in 2025.

The project, however, was designed in a way to keep traffic flowing along what is a vital link to both the beaches and as an evacuation route. The new bridge will be built about 85 feet south of the existing bridge, which will stay open to both car and boat traffic throughout construction, Arnone said.

The old bridge will be demolished once the new structure is complete and traffic shifts onto it, he said.

The project also will include upgrades for Rumson Road and Ward Avenue to include left-turn-only lanes in both directions. Rumson Road will be realigned to meet the new bridge. The traffic signal at its intersection with Route 36 will be moved south. The project also will add bike lanes and sidewalks on both sides of Rumson Road and Route 36.

The Rumson-Sea Bright Bridge is the first of three major bridge replacement projects that Monmouth County is pursuing using the federal grant program.

For at least the past decade, Monmouth County has targeted federal dollars to pay for large, costly infrastructure projects like bridge replacements.

The next two drawbridge replacement projects on Monmouth County's radar include the Oceanic Bridge, over the Navesink River between Rumson and Middletown, and the Glimmer Glass Bridge and two sister bridges that link Manasquan and Brielle.

Monmouth County, Rumson and Middletown approved resolutions supporting a proposed fixed span bridge over the Navesink River to replace the Oceanic Bridge. That proposed design is before the U.S. Coast Guard for approval, Arnone said. Once it is approved, engineers will develop final designs, which will take several years to complete.

The county, Brielle and Manasquan are supporting a proposed drawbridge replacement for Glimmer Glass Bridge, which would use a unique counterweight engineering that put the structure on state and federal historic preservation lists. That proposal still needs to be approved by federal highway officials.

Meanwhile, preservationists are still hoping to preserve the original bridge structure.

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Susanne Cervenka covers Monmouth County government and property tax issues, winning several state and regional awards for her work. She's covered local government for 15 years, with stops in Ohio and Florida before arriving in New Jersey in 2013. Contact her at @scervenka; 732-643-4229; [email protected].

The fishing has been so good this fall, fishermen are catching them three at a time.

While the striped bass are the big talk on the docks, along with the red-hot yellowfin bite in the Hudson Canyon, one of the best catches of late was made on the Fish Monger II party boat, if only for the variety of fish reeled in at once.

Capt. Jerry Postorino was bottom fishing when one member of his fishing party pulled a hat trick. While that's not unheard of — anglers often string together three or more mackerel or sardines on a Sabiki rig, this angler caught a triggerfish, sea bass and porgy on the same rig at once. It appears as if the porgy got snagged, while the other two took the bait. Postorino said he couldn't believe it when he saw it.

Hat trick aside, the striped bass still remain the focal point of most of the fishing effort.

There were some big cows wrestled into the boats fishing off locales such as Asbury Park mid-week. While there are keepers being taken, many fish are over the 38-inch size limit and going back into the water.

The Golden Eagle party boat from Belmar was out on the water on Wednesday. Capt. Rich Falcone said the bass were in the bunker pods, again, and they bit for most of the trip, or at least until mid-day. He said it was better than the day before, on Tuesday, when they had bass splashing around in the bunker but very few actually gave chase to their baited hooks and swim shads.

On the beaches, there was a good blitz Tuesday in the Monmouth Beach and Sea Bright area. Mike Pinto at Giglio's Bait and Tackle said the bass were chasing peanut bunker and came right over the sand bar and in tight to the beach.

"It lasted for a while. The bass were there for most of the morning, between 7 and 11 a.m. There was a little bit left in the afternoon," Pinto said.

Pinto said the fish were big, 30 pounders. There may have been a few in the 20-pound range, but he said it catch and release. Surf casters were tossing pencil poppers, mostly, though there were some snagging bunker out of the wash and reloading with circle hooks.

On Wednesday it was quiet on the beach again. Pinto said it's been like that since the fall run started. They get a blitz and then it's just a waiting game for a week or more until they get the next one. He hasn't seen or heard of many, if any, bluefish in the surf, at least in their area.

On Long Beach Island, there was some movement in the island's fall surf fishing classic. Domenic Minando, from Waldick, took over the lead with a 12-pound, 3-ounce bass he caught at Barnegat Light. He was fishing overnight with eels and got the bite at 1:30 a.m.

Previously:Close encounters of the whale kind for Jersey Shore fishermen during striped bass run

When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; [email protected].

SEA BRIGHT – Though tax relief may be a welcomed byproduct of school regionalization, for borough parents and Mayor Brian Kelly, transitioning students to a new school district is a source of anxiety he and the borough council will address during a special Oct. 3 meeting of the governing body.

“The only apprehension I’ve heard about from residents, parents – and as a parent, I’ve felt it too, to some degree – is that transition away from our current school district,” Kelly said in a Sept. 26 interview with The Two River Times regarding a proposed all-purpose K-12 school district that would include students from the boroughs of Atlantic Highlands, Highlands and Sea Bright.

“I completely empathize with the idea being a source of anxiety for our parents. We don’t have a huge amount of families with school-age children, but for the residents who are, this is very real, and it’s where the bulk of the apprehension is stemming from,” Kelly added.

Sea Bright students are currently enrolled in the Shore Regional Public School District, which receives the bulk of its enrollment from Oceanport, Monmouth Beach and West Long Branch.

Borough students travel to Oceanport to attend Wolf Hill Elementary school from kindergarten through fourth grade, before graduating to Maple Place School for grades five through eight. Shore Regional High School in West Long Branch is where students receive the remainder of their secondary education.

The proposed regionalization plan would allow Sea Bright students to merge with those currently enrolled in the Henry Hudson Regional Tri-District to create a new all-purpose K-12 district, a proposition Kelly said his community appears willing to welcome, as long as there is minimal disruption to the educational journey of its students.

“Both school districts are highly regarded and highly rated. If we do transition, we would be very happy with the education our students would receive. What we need to figure out is, if we were to transfer our students, what would that look like, and what would make the most sense for the wellbeing of our students,” Kelly said.

According to Kelly, the current state plan for the proposed regionalized district would allow any Sea Bright student to remain in their current Shore Regional district school until their promotion year.

“This something that hits close to home because I do have a son in Wolf Hill. If this plan, as it’s currently constituted, was to be approved before he was out of Wolf Hill, he would be able to stay in place and finish out his time there,” Kelly explained.

“Any high school aged students would also be able to ride out their time (at Shore Regional) and then graduate with their class,” he said.

“That being said, it doesn’t necessarily have to happen this way. It’s what the state plan includes right now. But assuming it goes through, there could be other options available to our families,” Kelly added.

Residents are encouraged to attend the October town hall meeting to learn more about student transitions and potential options, among other updates, including where Sea Bright currently stands in the process.

Kelly said the three neighboring boroughs – their governing bodies and boards of education – are still engaged in the economic negotiations of the plan, but he believes the three communities “will reach common ground.”

In June, Kelly told the Two River Times it was the goal of each borough council to put a referendum before the voters on their respective November ballots. However, due to ongoing negotiations, that question may need a special referendum vote as the deadline for placing a question on the November ballot has passed.

The notion of a new regionalized school district gained traction in January 2019, when each borough agreed to make a $20,000 financial commitment toward a study to investigate the feasibility of the idea. The study began in 2020.

In May 2021, the Henry Hudson Regional Tri-District received a $65,000 Local Efficiency Achievement Grant from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs to conduct a parallel feasibility study.

The results of both studies were made available over the summer, and prompted the local elected officials in each borough to take next steps in the process.

The article originally appeared in the September 29 – October 5, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.

Special to the Asbury Park Press

SEA BRIGHT - For Alice Gaffney, owner of Alice’s Kitchen in Sea Bright, she and her café are all about the people.

“I love doing what I do,” Gaffney said. “I’ve met a lot of wonderful people and I have very loyal customers. Much of them really supported me throughout the pandemic. I am very proud to be in this community and serve the public with my Irish cuisine. My employees and I have worked so hard to be at this point and we couldn’t be happier."

Gaffney grew up in Ireland before coming to the United States. She spent most of her early days on a farm.

“Most people there had farms and, although they were small, they were anything but easy,” Gaffney said. “There was a little of everything, including cows, pigs and sheep, among others. That was our income and how my parents supported our family. Although I was young, I really got to know the meaning of hard work and I took that with me to the United States and to my business that I run now.

“It was wonderful there,” Gaffney said. “It was simple sort of life and there weren’t many cars or telephones around, but everyone got along well and helped each other to care for their crops and other things. School was in a walking distance and it was just a great environment to grow up.”

Gaffney would go to work for the Irish government in its labor department, until 1986, when she traveled to the United States.

“I applied for a clerical staff position, which were being offered a lot at the time,” Gaffney said. “I had an office job there and I loved the section I was in. We traveled the country and worked in career exhibitions. I cherish my time there, not just because I made a lot of friends and had a good life, but because it gave me the tools I needed to be successful in America. I learned a great deal of responsibility there and by the time I came to America, I was fully prepared for the real world.”

In 1991, after moving to America, Gaffney’s husband opened his own business as a mechanic and Gaffney helped him with the paperwork end of things, which she admits was not her favorite part of her contribution, but she did what she could keep the business going.

“My husband had a background as a mechanic and he enjoyed working on cars,” Gaffney said. “He put a lot of hard work into that business and we learned a lot as the owners of how to run a business for the first time. We closed that business soon after, and then we opened a bar called the Claddagh in Highlands and ran that for a number of years.

“At that time, we just wanted a change,” Gaffney said. “We were approached by some people who wanted to be partners with us in running the bar. At one point, the partnership didn’t work out and we ended up buying the business out from them. Through the good and the bad, we met a lot of nice people and it was a rewarding experience overall. It was very different from anything I’ve ever done before.”

Afterwards, Gaffney went on to work at Red Bank Charter School, where she would work and run the cafeteria. She had always liked to cook and said this job tested her cooking skills making all different types of food.

“I loved creating meals that brought smiles to the faces of the children that I served,” Gaffney said. “It was really a great experience for me and I enjoyed making food that people could appreciate and love to eat, even if they were only young kids. I did that for a while and it gave me my start for being a professional cook.”

For the second time in her life, Gaffney was approached by a group of partners who offered her the opportunity to run her own business. This time, it was a breakfast-and-lunch café in Sea Bright.

“I left the school on very good terms and pursued running my own business,” Gaffney said. “It didn’t take long to make a decision to open my own café because it was a passion of mine to cook and I wanted to follow it wholeheartedly. It was something I always wanted to do to open my own little café. It was a lot of work, but it was very satisfying.”

No meat during Lent? You won't miss it at these Shore seafood restaurants

Starting it was not easy. She had to rebuild from scratch what had been destroyed by superstorm Sandy in the later part of 2012.

“I didn’t just walk into an already existing business,” Gaffney said. “I had to completely rebuild everything from the ground up. Everything was destroyed and a shell was the only thing that remained.

“It was very challenging at first,” Gaffney said. “I had to have somebody come in and work days upon days just to restore the location and everything that had been there before. I made it a point to make the inside as cozy and comfortable as possible with a touch of Irish feel to it.”

In August 2013, Gaffney opened Alice’s Kitchen and Gaffney had an immediate influx of customers who wanted to try something new.

“It took a bit of time to get really established,” Gaffney said. “Every business goes through the motions like that until they hit their stride, but we are on our ninth year and we are going strong.“

Gaffney was shut down for a number of months during the pandemic, except for takeout.

“It was like the bottom fell out of the barrel,” Gaffney said. “We had to recoup a little and it was hard for everyone because we didn’t know from week to week what was going to happen. We really had to try to survive on takeout. We stuck it out and eventually opened back up. It was rollercoaster ride to say the least.”

Alice’s Kitchen isn’t just your average café restaurant. A lot of the ingredients and recipes come from Ireland.

“We have Irish scones and muffins,” Gaffney said. “We have an Irish traditional breakfast, which includes Irish bacon and sausages. A lot our stuff is imported from Ireland and people seem to really love it.”

As Gaffney looks towards the future, she is proud of the last nine years she has spent making her café a staple of the community, but she also hopes to be around for another decade to come.

“We have come so far and are still standing after all we have been through,” Gaffney said. “As long as we don’t get another storm like Sandy, we will be here and continue to serve our very loyal customers.”

Owner: Alice Gaffney

Location: 1108 E. Ocean Ave., Sea Bright

Phone: 732-747-5999

Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturdays and 6 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sundays.

Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk were the driving forces on the top line for the Calgary Flames last season. Gaudreau was tied for second in the NHL with 115 points (40 goals, 75 assists) and Tkachuk was eighth with NHL career highs in points (104), goals (42) and assists (62).

Now each is in a different location. Gaudreau signed a seven-year, $68.25 million contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets on July 13. Tkachuk was traded by the Flames to the Florida Panthers, along with a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, for forward Jonathan Huberdeau, defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, forward prospect Cole Schwindt and a conditional first-round pick in the 2025 draft on July 22.

Gaudreau and Tkachuk will get reacquainted when the Blue Jackets play the Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, HULU, SN NOW). The Panthers (13-12-4) are fifth in the Atlantic Division and the Blue Jackets (10-15-2) are last in the Metropolitan Division.

Each is having an impact on his respective team, but which will have the biggest impact by the end of the season? That's the question before NHL.com staff writers Tracey Myers and Amalie Benjamin in this installment of State Your Case.

Myers: OK, this is probably a tough argument on my end because of where the Blue Jackets are in the standings. At the same time, I think that's what bolsters my take that Gaudreau will have a bigger impact on the Blue Jackets than Tkachuk on the Panthers. Right now, Gaudreau is the Blue Jackets. The 29-year-old leads Columbus with 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in 27 games. He's been consistent, averaging 1.15 points per game (down from 1.40 last season with Calgary but still good). The goaltending has been rough. Some good players are out: defenseman Zach Werenski will miss the rest of the seas after having shoulder surgery Nov. 29, defenseman Jake Bean had shoulder surgery and is out 4-6 months and forward Jakub Voracek is out indefinitely because of a concussion. And forward Patrik Laine, who was supposed to form a dynamic duo with Gaudreau, has missed 14 games because of injuries. That leaves Gaudreau as the one bearing most of the onus of trying to help the Blue Jackets improve.

Benjamin: That's fair, and I see your point. But ultimately, where are the Blue Jackets going this season? The Panthers, on the other hand, are right in the middle of the standings, just north of .500 (.517 points percentage). Tkachuk leads the Panthers with 37 points (13 goals, 24 assists) in 27 games, and he's second in goals, two behind Carter Verhaeghe. Tkachuk is averaging 3.32 points per 60 minutes at 5 on 5, ahead of his total from last season (3.23). He's on a line with Aleksander Barkov and Verhaeghe at the moment, which works for what he can do on the ice, playing to that much-lauded grit and sandpaper. It's a dynamite line with a tremendous amount of skill, talent and potential.

Myers: Yeah, no argument here on where the Blue Jackets are going and what Tkachuk is doing for the Panthers. But my stance is that Gaudreau has some help around him this season but not as much as Tkachuk, hence his impact being bigger on the Blue Jackets. Like you said, Tkachuk has been tremendous and is part of a great line with Barkov and Verhaeghe and it seems like there are more options around him than Gaudreau has at this point. Gaudreau got his 31 points in 27 games, tying him with Artemi Panarin (2018-19) for the second-fewest needed to reach 30 points in Blue Jackets history. Tkachuk is a big part of the show in Florida but Gaudreau is the show in Columbus.

Benjamin: Good points, all. But here's the kicker. For all of what Tkachuk has been able to do so far in Florida, I think there's another gear for him and another gear for the Panthers. They have been a work in progress since the start of the season as they try to learn new coach Paul Maurice's systems. But I think they're better than what they've shown. Though the Panthers have scored 68 goals at 5 on 5, second in the NHL to the New Jersey Devils (71), their power play is 26th at 19.3 percent. It should be significantly better, and so should Tkachuk, who has 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) on the power play after he had 29 points (12 goals, 17 assists) last season. If Florida's power play can get better, it's likely because of the impact Tkachuk has on it. My bet is it will get better.